Is there Life Before Life ?

There are a series of fascinating occurrences which may finally provide an explanation to the most popular question in human history. This phenomenon revolves around the idea that human beings will live or have lived other lives after dying. Reincarnation, or being incarnated into another body, is central to the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, but is a part of a number of other belief systems as well. Some think that there are references to reincarnation in Christianity, although the majority of Christians do not agree. But the evidence does not come from religious sources; ordinary people and events serve as possible examples.

Verified Personal Accounts

Literally thousands of children across the globe have recalled detailed past lives. While critics claim that the accounts might be influenced by parents and other sources, some have been checked out and proven to be quite accurate recollections of deceased persons’ lives.

• James Leininger – Obsessed with airplanes from the age of 2, James fascinated his parents by recalling very specific information about aircraft, from the names of different war planes to the names of specific parts on the vehicles. He had frequent nightmares of crashing his plane into a mountain that would wake him up in panics. The Leiningers became very engaged when their son began to tell them about his life as James M. Huston Jr., a fighter pilot who was supposedly killed in air combat. His parents did some research only to find that Huston really did exist and that his plane was shot down at Iwo Jima during the Second World War. The child was taken to Anne Barron, sister of the killed pilot, who verified the boy’s details about her brother.  
• Numerous accounts verified by Dr. Ian Stevenson
• Born in Delhi, India, Gopal, a three year old boy, spoke about living in a city called Mathura which was 160 miles from where he lived. Among other details, he claimed to have owned a medical company and to have been shot by his brother. It was researched and found that the name Gopal had provided as that of his company, Sukh Shancharak, was in fact the very name of the shot man he had been describing.
• In Beirut, a young boy described in detail his past life of being a mechanic killed by being thrown from his car. The specific facts he provided, including his age and family members’ and friends’ names, checked out to be true. He was even able to recall the exact location of the accident which took his life. There was no reason to suspect the two families had ever come into contact with one another.

Dr. Stevenson's well known Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation contains such investigations, and is a very convincing source for anyone interested in pursuing further research on the topic.

 Matching Scars and Birthmarks

One of the most astounding pieces of physical evidence for reincarnation lies in scars and birthmarks on children that correspond to wounds on a deceased person’s body. They are oftentimes in the same shape as the wound occurring in a child’s past life memory of an injury. The wounds are also verified by medical records, such as photographs and documents created for autopsy reports. According to Dr. Ian Stevenson, the leading authority on reincarnation research at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, some of the children have scar tissue too abnormally shaped and closely matching to be labeled purely coincidental. Examples of such marks include:

• scattered markings on a child’s chest that match with a shotgun blast to the victim’s chest
• scars on the exact area on the back of the head where the victim was knifed
• a boy born almost absent of fingers on one hand matching the described person’s amputated fingers

More examples of these findings along with photographs can be found in Dr. Stevenson’s book Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect.

Speaking Unlearned Languages

Xenoglossy is the phenomenon in which a person is able to speak a language he or she has never learned. For example, a fluent German speaker who has had no contact with the German language either at home or has never been to Germany displays xenoglossy. Although quite rare, this has been scientifically observed and is another possible piece of evidence supporting reincarnation. Skeptics claim that young children, whose brains are sponges for information, can learn words and phrases of foreign languages through exposure from sources outside the home environment. However, a child’s intonation, the characteristic pitch and tone associated with a language or dialect, when speaking the language, is more difficult to explain. Unlearned Language: New Studies in Xenoglossy is a book entirely dedicated to the scientific study of xenoglossy.

Past-Life Regression

A fourth type of evidence, although less testable and reliable than the other three, is past-life regression. Past-life regression is a hypnotic technique in which the patient is put into a trance and guided by a series of questions into the vivid memory of her past-life or lives. The memory can be and often is as realistic as real life and memories in the current life. People who pursue the method are usually those with a desire for a spiritual experience or those who try it as a form of therapy. Interestingly, the majority of those who are in favor of the technique are slightly inclined to believe in reincarnation, while those who follow a religion in which it is preached do not advocate its undertaking.

The typical session between the patient and therapist takes place in private, and lasts between about one to one and a half hours. First, the two converse about the patient’s situation, expectations, and the procedure. Then, the patient relaxes and falls into a trance, in which she is still conscious to come out at any desired moment. The therapist often speaks of entering a portal, a door for example, through which the patient accesses the memories of another life. Throughout the process, the patient and therapist exchange words, the former speaking of her observations and emotions as the latter questions and guides her. After the regression, the results are analyzed.

Past-life regression is commonly performed as a remedy to one’s personal, often unexplained issues. According to regression psychotherapists such as Brian L. Weiss, M.D., recurring nightmares, anxiety attacks, and irrational phobias may be symptoms of disturbing past life experiences. While criticized for producing false, historically inaccurate, and even harmful memories, it has proven to have a therapeutic effect in many cases. Whether true or false, the experiences have shown to cure a number of problems: depression, anxiety, phobias, and other psychological and behavioral issues.

Examples of past live regression experiences include:

• An only-Chinese speaking surgeon from China experiencing and describing in fluent English her life in 1850s San Francisco.
• A woman who drowned in her past life 4,000 years ago, after undergoing the regression, no longer having the phobia of drowning in her current life.
• A childless woman experiencing her life as a Native American being killed and leaving her children behind.
• Being overweight in her current life and seeing herself as a starving villager foraging for food and dying of starvation.

Believers, open-minded individuals, and skeptics alike can undergo past life regression to see what results from the session. Therapists claim that it works on approximately 70-80% of patients.

A Conclusion?

Although some pieces of evidence, as past-life regression, can be heavily criticized for their unreliability, others are rather difficult to concretely denounce. It is strange to think how the almost-unbelievable stories of hundreds of children can be matched with real events, how the odd markings on a child can correspond to the wounds on an identified, deceased body. Reincarnation remains a topic thirsty for research. While it will never be accepted by everyone, as no belief has ever been, the phenomena surrounding the concept of life after death allows for hope that something does wait beyond the end.